Cuttack: Underscoring procedural safeguards in arrests, Orissa high court has ruled that informing the accused of the grounds of arrest is “not an empty formality” but a mandatory legal and constitutional requirement.The significant ruling came on Thursday while granting bail to five people accused in a cyber crime case after finding serious lapses in the arrest procedure.A single judge bench of Justice Gourishankar Satapathy observed: “By and large, nowhere it has been reflected either in the affidavit or in the case diary or record that a written copy of grounds of arrest were furnished to the arrestees immediately after their arrest or two hours prior to their production before the magistrate/ court for remand proceedings.”Highlighting the importance of statutory compliance, the HC held that provisions under sections 47 and 48 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), along with Article 22(1) of the Constitution, are not optional. “These provisions are not empty formality, but statutory duty cast on the authorities concerned because the liberty of a person is priceless and violation thereof cannot be compensated in terms of money,” Justice Satapathy stated.The judge further emphasized: “Sec 47 of BNSS makes it imperative for the arresting officer to communicate forthwith the arrestee… the particulars of the offence(s)… This is not only the statutory right of the accused person, but also his fundamental right.”The arrest of the five accused had followed registration of FIR on Jan 8, 2026, by the cyber crime & economic offenses unit in Cuttack and the matter was pending before the court of additional sessions judge-cum-special judge (vigilance), Cuttack and cognizance taking court of judicial magistrate first class-I, Cuttack.Taking note of the “absolutely no compliance” with the statutory as well as mandatory provisions, Justice Satapathy ruled that all five accused were entitled to bail and directed that each accused be released on bail upon furnishing bonds of Rs 50,000 with one solvent surety each, subject to conditions imposed by the trial court.The five applicants who had filed separate bail applications and were granted bail included Rudra Madhab Mohapatra, Tapan Kumar Nayak, Pananga Narayan Dash, Smruti Ranjan Moharan and Subhransu Sagar Patra. They are accused of being involved in opening fake business accounts using mobile phones, debit cards and other electronic instruments of unsuspecting individuals, and subsequently routing illegal funds through such mule accounts.“Since these five bail applications arise out of one and same case record, the same are heard together and disposed of by this common order,” the judge said.
